Messing Around with Macro

Several years ago I rented a macro lens just for kicks and had a lot of fun experimenting with it.  However at the time I saw no reason to own one, not to mention that I didn't love the one I rented, so I wasn't tempted to rush out and purchase it.  Fast forward a few years and I found myself dipping my toes into the waters of wedding photography and I was in need of a macro lens to do ring shots.

Several wedding photographers I know swear by the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM.  They said that it was amazing for ring shots, but it also doubled as a good portrait lens, so I decided to trust their judgement and purchase it.  I did a little practicing with it on our wedding rings, and then used it for the few weddings that I photographed.  However, I quickly decided that wedding photography wasn't my thing, and I just never fell in love with it as a portrait lens.  So, I've intermittently considered selling it.  Now that I've decided to begin exploring some other areas of photography, I'm happy that I held on to it because I can see myself getting into taking macro shots.

I decided to make a date with the lens last week to try my hand at taking some night shots of scorpions. Ever since I learned that I could use a blacklight to see scorpions at night, I've wanted to take some photos of them - but of course I never took the time to actually do it. Until now that is - I went out a few nights last week to see if I could find any scorpions to photograph. Sadly, we do have a lot of scorpions where we live, so it wasn't too hard to find some hanging out in our yard.

I'm not sure there's much to say about these images, so I'll let them speak for themselves...

I have to admit that while I'm not necessary afraid of scorpions, they do kind of creep me out!  I was ok taking the photos since my concentration was on holding the blacklight and working my camera settings.  However it was giving me chills when I was editing these images, especially these last two of the scorpion crawling around...

I apologize to anyone who is creeped out by these.  I promise there won't be very many images like this on the blog!  However, I do think there will be more macro shots making an appearance soon.  We recently had new landscaping put in our front yard and I've been tossing around the idea of taking some macro shots of the flowers that are blooming, so stay tuned for those.

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
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© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Birds and Bees and Butterflies, Oh My!

A few weeks ago I had a photo session at the Desert Botanical Gardens, and I went a few hours early to scope out some good places for us to shoot.  While I was walking around I did a little shooting and decided to share a few of the photos I took on the blog.

I especially like these first few of a hummingbird that Kevin spotted and pointed out to me....

I braved a few of the bees, even though I am very allergic to bee stings!  Luckily, they were too engrossed in their flowers to notice me...

Last but not least, a few of the gorgeous butterflies we saw...

I'd love to return to the botanical gardens sometime to take photos when I have a full day to spend shooting (and when it cools off a little bit), and I'd love to shoot more sessions there, as well.  It is a gorgeous place for portraits!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
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© 2014 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

A Day at the Phoenix Zoo

Today I was planning on posting a sneak peek from an anniversary session that I had scheduled a few days ago, but a rare Phoenix rainstorm put a damper on that plan when it forced us to reschedule. Instead, I decided to share some photos that I took during a recent visit to The Phoenix Zoo. Kevin and I spent an afternoon there a few weeks ago when my brother-in-law and his girlfriend were in town. Neither one of us had been there yet, so it was a nice opportunity to check it out and visit with the animals.

Here are some photos of the cute critters that we got to see during our visit:

As soon as we arrived we were greeted by lots of cute little ducks swimming in the water in front of the zoo entrance. This guy was just hanging out on the log, waiting for someone to take his portrait and I just couldn't let him down!...

I took quite a few photos of the little animals in their aquariums, but my sister-in-law gets grossed out by creepy-crawlies, so I decided not to post any of the snakes or spiders just to be nice to her. So, instead here is a cute little turtle and a passed out lizard from that portion of the zoo...

This one's for my mother-in-law, who has recently developed a love for owls...

These little guys always crack me up!...

Kevin actually took this next photo. He's been practicing his photography skills recently, so I turned the camera over to him for a while while I amused myself taking photos with my cell phone and posting them on Instgram...

Admittedly, there's nothing too exciting about this photo. I just found the line up of the animals amusing. It seemed like they were an unlikely group of friends playing an odd little game of follow the leader...

The large cats are always my favorite animals at the zoo. Kevin had the camera while we visited most of them, but I did get to take a few photos of this guy...

I'm really not a big fan of birds and when they are flying loose around me they kind of creep me out. But when they are at the zoo I always enjoy photographing them, especially the brightly colored ones.

I always get a kick out of the monkeys at the zoo! This one seemed to be covering his face, as if to say, "those darn people and their cameras, always staring in at me."...

I just loved these little guys, which is obvious from all the photos of them!...

He reminds me of an old man, just watching the world go by and patiently waiting for something...

Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed these animal photos and want to see more, you might want to check out the photos from the Wildlife World Zoo that I took in December 2011.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
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© 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

The Little Trooper

The weather in Phoenix has gotten a little chilly recently and I don't think our rose bushes are loving the colder temps! Last week I noticed that there was only one flower left, and he was hanging on for dear life. I decided to grab my camera and honor the little trooper with a few photos. I ended up with these 4 images that I thought did him justice.

What I liked so much about this flower was how the color changed from a pink in the very center to a darker, almost red at bottom and I was attempting to capture this in the first two images...

I liked how the veins (is that the proper term for a flower?) stood out in black and white...

Something about the curving folds of the petals grabbed me in this one...

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
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© 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

A Day at the Wildlife World Zoo

Last week my parents came to Phoenix to visit, and we went to the Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, Arizona. I have been wanting to take zoo pictures forever, so it seemed like the perfect time to take my camera along and capture some shots.

There were so many birds at the zoo!  A lot of them had such gorgeous, bright colored feathers..

I loved this one!...

Check out those amazing eyes!...

I love seeing the monkeys at the zoo! They are usually some of the most active animals there, except for this little guy who was crashed out for a nap...

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these cute little guys...

Loved the frogs!...

This guy looks like a fat little Budda frog :) ...

Tigers are are my all time favorite animals! It's not often that you actually see the tigers active in the zoo, and we were lucky enough to see both of these tigers up and walking around! We think that the animals knew it was almost dinner time, so that is why so many of them were active near the end of our visit...

I couldn't resist posting this one!...

The kangaroos were mostly laying around napping, but this one was willing to pose for a photo...

How would you like to carry around those horns all day?...

This is probably my favorite picture of the day! I just love his expression!...

I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos of the animals!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.